Chairman Shin Chang-jae opf Kyobo Life.

Kyobo Life Insurance Co. held the 2015 Korea Women’s Innovative Network Conference on Oct. 21 at Kyobo Building at Gwanghwamun, downtown Seoul, jointly with Standard Chartered Bank.

Kyobo Life and Standard Chartered Bank (SC Bank) wanted to provide opportunities for women in Korea to develop themselves and gain leadership experience by building their own human network, the insurance company said recently.

Among some 320 women at the meeting included those from well-known foreign companies operating in Korea including SC Bank, Korea IBM, Korea 3M and others. Many participants are already leaders with those foreign firms or are in mid-level positions.

Chairman Shin Chang-jae of Kyobo Life and President Park Jong-bok of SC Bank opened the meeting with speeches entitled, “Connecting and Communication for Success.”

Chairman Shin in his welcoming speech said the discovery of female leaders is critical for the further development of Korea, especially, on the global stage for its sustainable growth. Well-developed female leaders with their creative ideas not only have been of a great help to the companies they work for, “but also to all of us to lead us to a better world with their power,” he said. 

President Park of SC Bank, in his speech, said Kyobo Life and SC Bank have been very close over the years in cooperative events and they want their female employees to develop as leaders through the observation of the activities at the conference.

Kyobo Life has been holding the annual conference since 2011 in partnership with a number of foreign firms operating in Korea, including Korea GM, Korea IBM and SC Bank, among others. 

The life insurance firm wanted to help talented women develop their skills as much as possible, believing that it’s one of the ways to make Korea reach its potential. The insurance firm has also been doing all it can to help “the home” and “the workplace” stand together culturally for working women through various events and systems including the Day for Family Love, furloughs for women employees to care for their young children, and special arrangements of their working hours.

A Kyobo Life official said she felt great after seeing that many women who participated in the conference seemed very satisfied with the event, a sign that conference is achieving its goals.

Kyobo Life Chairman Shin gives a speech at the Korea Women’s Innovative Network Conference at the Kyobo Life Headquarters in downtown Seoul on Oct. 21.(Photos:Kyobo Life)

Kyobo Life Won’t Bid for Woori Bank

On Nov. 28, Kyobo Life indicated that it would not participate in the bid for Woori Bank (deposits rating of A1 negative, bank financial strength rating/baseline credit assessment of C-/baa2 negative). 

"Kyobo Life's decision not to make a bid for Woori Bank removes any related execution risks, as well as concerns about negative financial impact on its capital, funding and profitability that could have been brought about by the acquisition. The constraints that limited upward pressure on its rating are therefore no longer present," says Eric Yau, a Moody's Assistant Vice President and Analyst. 

The positive outlook reflects Moody's expectation that Kyobo Life will maintain its profitability and capitalization as its gains from mortality/morbidity have been stable and negative spread legacy business continues to run off. The company has also rolled out an early retirement program in 2014, with a view of saving staff costs starting 2015, which is expected to lift profitability further. 

The A2 financial strength rating reflects Kyobo Life's strong and sustainable business profile, solid capital levels, and low financial leverage.